wes8398

iTrader: (2)

As you can see from my other thread about trailing arms and fenders rubbing, I'm having some issues with my new tire, wheel, and suspension combo.
Aside from rubbing issues, my OCD is kicking in because the H&R's lowered the rear more than the front. I like the front's ride height and want the same in the rear, which should also help with some of the rubbing issues I'm having.
In my other thread a fellow member suggested fabbing up a rubber "spacer" to place under the rear spring to raise it up. I'm not much of a fabricator, so I'm leaning more towards cutting my OEM rear springs.
What do you guys think? Thoughts or suggestions? I've never cut springs before, so what do you guys use to cut with, a grinder? Hack saw? Do I cut from the top, bottom, or combo of both? Lastly, how much do you figure I'll need to cut?

A few reference pics of H&R's installed with old and new wheels/tires.

Front:




Rear:




Overall:

whisler151

What mods did you do to the rear shocks? They are auto leveling and will only lower if a spacer is added or you remount them (MM mod).

wes8398

iTrader: (2)

I'm not really sure what that has to do with the rear being too low, but for the record I installed the MightMouse spacers.

whisler151

It has everything to do with it. Its not the HR springs problem, its the fact that you relocated your rear shocks. Your title should have read something like "Mightymouse mod and HR springs = too low rear".

At any rate...best of luck.

wes8398

iTrader: (2)

Whistler101 - the way Mighty Mouse and also many others explain it, the spacers do not change your ride height, they only change shock position. How it was explained to me was that if someone installed MM spacers and left the stock springs in, the ride height would remain unchanged. The shocks just wouldn't be triggered to auto level until the suspension got loaded down that much further.
If I'm wrong, correct me. It would be a lot easier to change the size of the spacers and raise the rear a bit!! But I'm pretty sure that's not how it works.

1BADCTS

iTrader: (17)

I believe yomu can modify the MM spacers to fix your problem. Just figure out how much you want to raise the car from it's current height, and have the cylinders on the MM kit cut shorter by that amount. The shocks should take care of the rest.

1BADCTS

iTrader: (17)

Oh, and nice wheels!

wes8398

iTrader: (2)

Thanks! Too bad they dont fricken FIT! lol

As for modifying the spacers, I hope mighty mouse chimes in here.
I would prefer the STATIC height to raise, and then stay the same while driving. I would think this can only be achieved by a longer spring (or spacer of some sort).

plastus85

my h&r were too low for me too in the rear... i just took them out and cut my oem springs in the rear.. happy with how it sits now.. (mm spacers installed and stock wheels)

wes8398

iTrader: (2)

Plastus85 - exactly someone I wanted to talk to. PM sent.

wcryan

iTrader: (2)

get ur fenders rolled too.... That should give u about 1/2" so your wheels wont rub. Try not to cut the springs if you don't have to. cutting springs and messing with rates SOMETIMES makes for a wierd ride. I would try to modify the MM spacers before I cut springs

wes8398

iTrader: (2)

Even beyond the rubbing issues, I'm still not overly happy with the rear ride height. I want to bring it up about 1/4" to match the front.
If I don't like the cut springs, I can always put the h&r's back in. Unless someone can convince me otherwise, I really don't think that modifying the MM spacers is going to satisfy me. I want the heights matched (front and back) when I'm parked too, not just when I'm driving.

wcryan

iTrader: (2)

im sure a couple more guys will chime in. A lot of people do the MM mod

big reg

iTrader: (28)

I had to lose my mm spacers. The h&r lower to much in the rear. They produce a reverse rake. I have debated a set of Kw coilovers bit 2k out of my Maggie fund for ride height adjustment is a tough pill to swallow. My custom wheels have a very aggressive fender flush offset so tucking is not an option.

VforMe

I have same setup on mine and it's not that low in the rear. My guess is that your rear shocks are no longer self leveling for whatever reason. This cell phone pic is all I've got but you can see I have a little more gap in the rear. I would take out the spacers and see what happens.

whisler151

Yep, that sounds about right. I dont want the huge drop that the MM mod gives. I like the 1" drop I got with the traditional nivomat spacers and Eibach springs.

wes8398

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Before you read below please realize that I'm not arguing with you's. I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this and clear up some confusion. I'm also looking for anyone who has cut their stock springs to chime in with exactly how they did so, as that's the way I'm leaning right now...

Whistler, I'm confused at your post. First you agree with how I understand how the spacers work (and don't effect ride height), but then you go on to talk about the ride height that the spacers give. If you agree with me, you'd say that the reason you achieved the 1" drop was due to the different brand of spring, not the spacer. I'm not being a dick, just trying to clear up some confusion.

VforMe - unless it's a picture of your car actually in motion, the auto-leveling feature is not engaged and thus is inapplicable. The SPRINGS are the only determining factor in the difference in ride height between pic of my car parked vs. a pic of your car parked. I guess your pic just shows the h&r is a bit inconsistent with their springs...

BigReg - if you're saying that removing your spacers made your STATIC (parked) ride height change, it's gonna blow my mind. lol

CTSVBiggie

iTrader: (1)

Now I do not understand the autoleveling system that well. But i know that depending on the angle of the road im parked on.. Sometimes i am slammed in the rear. And others its up in the air like a muscle car... We need a suspension dimmer switch. Dial in the height of the rear.

3YLSYKR

iTrader: (2)

That's a lil close.

EdmundGTP

Wes, you're already in the correct train of thought to realize that you have to change something about the spring, or how it mounts on/in it's perches to raise your ride height. Changing the MM spacers alone will do nothing but alter the point at which the rear struts do their "auto leveling" thing.

The ultimate goal would be to have your rear suspension set up so that when the car isn't loaded down with weight, the shocks AREN'T trying to auto-level to counter act a lowered suspension. As far as I can figure (and I have NOT tried this out yet), the best way to raise the rear with HR springs and MM spacers is going to be to shim up the rubber spring perch isolators somehow. You could ALSO modify the MM spacers (notice I said also, not only) to optimize the rear ride height along with this change. But I don't think an increase in the rear ride height of .25-.5" is going to be enough to really mess with the way the original MM spacers and load leveling shocks work together.

In the original design thread for the MM spacers, I believe they were only designed raise the upper shock mount by an inch. Therefore the optimal "drop amount" to work best with the MM spacers would also be roughly an inch. That would get you an effective "zero sum" change in the working length of the shock before and after the drop. Being that the HR springs drop the rear upwards of 2 inches, that already puts you out of what I assume to be the "optimal" drop range of the original MM spacer design. So following that line of thought, shimming up the rear springs, gets you both closer to your desired ride height, AND closer to the optimal drop amount for the MM spacers.

I plan to do some more experimenting with all this pretty soon when the new floor jack I ordered gets delivered.

edited to break up wall-o-text response..